While there’s hope for the future, contractors say they have seen the same reality before and after the myth-busting memo: overworked and inexperienced contracting officers who don’t want to allot valuable time to businesses, agency fears that any correspondence with companies will spur drawn-out protests and a governmentwide predisposition to award contracts based on low price, negating any need for contractor input.

“You’re not going to change the culture overnight, and no one is expecting that,” said Gracia, CEO of D.C.-based Seville Government Consulting. “But overall, things have not changed. In some instances, they’ve deteriorated.”

Few fault the February memo released by then-OFPP Administrator Dan Gordon, who attempted to debunk 10 generations-old misconceptions about acceptable interactions between industry and government. Most view the memo as admirable — crediting Gordon for acknowledging the challenges faced by contractors, as well as their direct impact on the success and failure of programs. Instead, contractors describe the gaps as a failure by many agencies to change their ways and worry that Gordon’s departure (he stepped down in December after two years on the job) might make matters even worse.

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